


It's Still Cold and You're Still Attractive

by yellowbound



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, all stuck together on a sea voyage, cassian has no chill, kay notices
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-08
Updated: 2017-05-07
Packaged: 2018-10-16 05:13:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10564332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yellowbound/pseuds/yellowbound
Summary: At the last minute, Jyn takes a job on a five-week expedition, and Cassian's not entirely sure how to handle the new addition to the crew.





	1. Chapter 1

Cassian woke up to the sway of the ship. He was happy the swells did not appear to be too bad this morning - he appreciated gentle seas until he got his sea legs back.

However, it was still cold, and seeing as he wasn’t wearing anything, he didn’t really want to get out of bed.

The reason he wasn’t wearing anything was no longer present. He didn’t realize his defenses were so low, but it had only taken, “It’s cold and you’re attractive,” and she had ended up in his bed the first night of this five-week-long sea voyage.

He couldn’t exactly say he was sorry, only he hoped it didn’t make anything weird. Or, well, weirder. He sighed. He couldn’t even blame alcohol, they hadn’t been drinking. Cassian did have someone to blame, however: his friend Kay. This was all Kay’s fault.

Bodhi was the first one to find him after he had gotten up, put on appropriately warm clothing as quickly as possible, and made his way to the ship’s mess. Bodhi was the ship’s pilot and it was not the first time the two of them had set out on a voyage together.

“Look, I, um, just wanted to tell you, she asked me some questions,” Bodhi initiated the conversation nervously as Cassian got his coffee.

Cassian had a sinking feeling he knew who ‘she’ was, but felt he should clarify. “You are talking about Jyn Erso?”

Bodhi’s nervous nod confirmed his suspicious. “I promise I didn’t say anything bad.”

Cassian hid a smile with a sip of coffee. “When did you talk to her?”

“Yesterday afternoon.”

Well, if that was the case, Jyn definitely hadn’t been dissuaded by anything Bodhi had said. Cassian figured he owed Bodhi at least a beer.

“I would appreciate it if you continue to not say anything bad about me to her. I’m pretty sure Kay has that area taken care of.”

Bodhi chuckled. “That’s true.”

Later, he found Jyn arguing with Kay over some of their equipment. “It is not appropriately waterproofed. You can’t take it up on deck,” Kay was saying flatly.

“It’s water-resistant. I’m not going to drop it in the ocean.”

“That is not-”

“Kay,” Cassian called, “Captain Draven wants you to go over the latest charts with him.”

“Okay.” Kay made his way out of the equipment room still carrying the piece that he and Jyn had been arguing over. As he passed Cassian, Cassian deftly plucked it out of his arms and closed the door behind him.

He handed the equipment back to Jyn. “Maybe come down here when he’s not around,” Cassian suggested.

“I tried,” Jyn said as she accepted the proffered item. “I think he followed me.”

He probably had, but Cassian wasn’t going to say that outloud. Instead he tried, “He’s better once you get to know him.”

“Bodhi said that wasn’t true.”

Damnit. He thought about asking Bodhi not to say anything bad about Kay, either, but he didn’t know how such a request could be followed.

“When Kay asked you to come on this trip, you could’ve said no.”

“He didn’t really phrase it like that.” Cassian knew Kay had gotten her out of a scrap, and as a return favor asked her to be an extra hand on this trip when someone had backed out of their commitment at the last moment. “I can handle him, you don’t have to keep interfering,” she added.

“You looked like you were about to punch him.” Cassian was aching to reach out and touch her, the memory of the night before still very fresh, and Jyn’s lack of care for personal space wasn’t helping. He didn't know how she'd respond to that, however.

“You really should just let someone punch him every now and then. It would do him good.”

He couldn’t help but smile down at her.

Later that night, he heard a knock on his door. “It’s still cold and you haven’t gotten any less attractive,” she greeted him with. He hardly needed the explanation, as he held the door open, letting her in.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassian helps Jyn through a rough storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I noticed people wouldn't mind if I wrote more in this setting, with everyone trapped on a sea voyage together, so here is a bit more. I hope it meets your expectations!

“She doesn’t even use her room.” Kay’s voice carried through the mess, where most of the two dozen crew sat eating. It was hardly necessary to speak so loud. Anticipating drama, which followed Kay around, everyone else got quiet.

“My room doesn’t come with a furnace.”

“Cassian’s room comes with a furnace?” Turning to Cassian, annoyed, “Did you sneak one on board?” _And somehow hide it from me_ wasn’t said, but it was implied. Kay knew everything on the ship. He went through people’s things, which annoyed everyone, but he never actually took anything - he just catalogued it, ‘in case of an emergency’. Seeing as his catalogue had actually come in handy before, people tolerated it, in much the same way they tolerated Kay in general. His personality might resemble the most blunt object imaginable, but he was a useful blunt object.

Cassian, who knew exactly where this was going but couldn’t stop it, could only wish to disappear to literally anywhere else, as Jyn said, _to the whole room_ , “Cassian’s the furnace.”

“Are you really that cold?” Cassian could hear snorts of laughter, from people who couldn’t quite stifle them. Their environmental monitoring was taking place at rather northern latitudes - it was summer, but it was always cold. Kay, who didn’t seemed to notice the temperature, had never understood people that did.

Captain Draven took that moment to appear in the doorway, saving, Cassian felt, everyone. From whatever would’ve happened next. Which might have been physical harm to Kay. Jyn still hadn’t gotten to punch him yet, though Cassian didn’t know how much longer he could prevent what was probably inevitable.

“The storm that’s headed this way has become more severe. I want everyone to make sure that equipment is properly locked down and protected, and for those of you who need to, see Doctor Imwe.”

Everyone quickly got moving. They had known about the storm, been keeping an eye on it. Sometimes, storms weakened or changed course, but this one seemed to be doing the opposite.

Before Jyn could go her own way, Cassian held her back a moment. “Storms like this can be pretty rough.”

He knew Jyn had never been on a boat before. She had taken a risk - she could’ve gotten incredibly seasick, and had a miserable time. But so far, she had been okay. But if storms got bad enough, even weathered sailors could become ill. Draven’s warning to see the doctor beforehand told Cassian a lot about how severe he expected this storm to be.

“Kay’s been telling me.” Great, thought Cassian, that would make Jyn defensive, less likely to listen to sound advice. Which Kay did give, but he managed to do so in a way that made people want to do the opposite, just to spite him. Cassian, not having a particularly spiteful disposition, got on better with Kay than most. Jyn, on the other hand…

“I highly recommend you visit Doctor Iwme.”

“Are you going to?”

“Yes.” He always did - just to have something, if he needed it, even though that was rare.

“Okay,” she said, with a slight nod, and hurried to get ready.

Cassian only stood watching for a moment before heading up to help Captain Draven with preparations.

He got so caught up with what he was doing that the storm was nearly upon them by the time he made it to Doctor Iwme.

“I’ve been expecting you,” said Chirrut, as Cassian greeted him and sat down on the exam table. He submitted readily as Chirrut lifted his hands to Cassian’s face, searching through touch for signs of wind damage or sunburn. “You have been protecting yourself appropriately.” Cassian was gratified by Chirrut’s assessment. Doctor Iwme was probably the most interesting person Cassian had ever encountered. A blind doctor who had spent most of his life in a monastery, he had joined Draven’s crew to experience more of the world. Many people found being out at sea for months at a time isolating, but Chirrut wasn’t one of them.

“I will be here, if you need anything,” Chirrut said as he passed Cassian the medication that could help with storm-induced motion sickness.

“Thanks,” Cassian said, smiling, even though Chirrut couldn’t see it. Before he left, he asked, “Has Jyn stopped by?”

“Unfortunately, I have seen little of Jyn Erso.”

Cassian sighed. He knew Jyn had been avoiding Chirrut, but he didn’t know why. As far as he could tell, there wasn’t anything physically wrong with her. She certainly enjoyed a variety of different activities with him. She could’ve had a chronic illness, something he maybe wouldn’t’ve have seen, but Kay would’ve picked that up, when he looked into her before he brought her on board (and he would’ve found anything she would’ve been hiding, like medication, afterwards).

“Could you give me something for her, as well?”

“I would encourage you to bring her to see me.”

“I might have to drag her.”

“You will find a way.”

“Why do I always get stuck with the difficult ones?”

Chirrut chuckled. “They know you will judge them less harshly than others.”

Cassian, smiling, gave Chirrut a squeeze on his arm before leaving.

Later, once Draven declared that the worst of the storm had passed, and he didn’t need to stay on watch, he returned utterly exhausted to his room to find Jyn curled up on his bunk, miserable. In the few weeks they had been at sea, she had rarely used her room. Cassian couldn’t say he was surprised by her misery - this storm was pretty rough, at the very least he was going to end up with some bruises from when he had been thrown sideways by a wind gust.

“Here,” he said gently, kneeling in front of her, bracing himself as well as he could to go with the rise and fall of the ship, as he placed one of the pills Chirrut had given him under her tongue, in the hope it would make her feel less miserable. Jyn’s utter lack of resistance alarmed him, but he knew how she felt. Motion sickness was not something he’d wish on anyone.

The next day, after he had slept off some of his exhaustion and Jyn some of her illness, though neither one of them had deemed it necessary to get out of bed, Jyn asked, into Cassian’s chest, “Does he get motion sick?”

Cassian didn’t even have to ask who ‘he’ was, as he ran his fingers along her shoulder gently. “What do you think?” he asked, his lips pressed into her hair.

She sighed. “I was just hoping, since he’s so tall…”

“I think he might actually be made of steel.”

“Mmmm.”

“Just keep that in mind when you go to punch him.”

“Why are you trying so hard to keep me from punching him? He does deserve it sometimes, you know.”

Cassian sighed. “I know,” he said softly. “I’m just the one who’d have to clean up the mess.”

“You don’t really seem to mind.”

There was a knock on the door, and Bodhi poked his head in once Cassian had given his permission. He knew it wouldn’t be Kay - Kay wouldn’t have knocked.

“Can we come in?”

“Sure,” said Cassian, as he moved his hand down Jyn’s back and out of sight, resting right above her waist, under the covers where their visitors couldn’t see. Why Cassian thought that was important he couldn’t say, as Jyn’s head was still cradled on his chest, and she showed no interest in moving.

Bodhi entered the room leading Chirrut. Cassian wasn’t surprised to see them - the doctor normally made the rounds following a storm, to check on those who didn’t feel up to visiting him.

Jyn’s hand curled into a fist on his chest. Cassian thought she did it subconsciously, not realizing her reaction was giving away her discomfort. Cassian still couldn’t fathom why, though.

“I came to check on you,” Chirrut said, somewhat unnecessarily.

“I’m okay,” said Cassian, “but Jyn is feeling a little rough.”

Chirrut asked her if he could examine her, and upon receiving her permission checked her out. “I can give you a shot of medication to help you out,” he offered. Jyn agreed.

While preparing the needle, Chirrut asked, “Where did you get that necklace?”

“How did you know I was wearing a necklace?” Jyn had not let go of Cassian’s shirt. The pendant of the necklace in question was pressed between the two of them, where Chirrut couldn’t feel it.

Chirrut didn’t answer. “Who gave it to you?”

A bit reluctantly, Jyn said, “My mother.”

“And she was a believer?”

“Yes.”

“And her daughter is not.”

“Also yes.”

“I am not here to force my faith on anyone,” Chirrut said gently.

“Thank you,” Jyn said, very quietly.

The door clanked open, and Cassian knew who it was, even before he heard his voice.

“The captain is asking for you,” Kay said into a room full of four people, expecting them to figure out who ‘you’ was.

Cassian knew who Kay was talking about and gingerly extracted himself from under Jyn.

“Are you so ill you need the attentions of three people?” Kay asked Jyn, who didn’t look all that pleased that her head was now resting on a pillow Cassian had placed under it instead of Cassian.

Cassian pulled Kay out of the room as he left, not letting the heavy door bang shut. “I don’t know what you see in her,” Kay stated.

“A lot of people say that to me about you,” said Cassian as he worked his way through the ship.

“We are not having sex,” said Kay.

Cassian couldn’t entirely suppress a laugh. “No, this isn’t about sex, Kay.”

“You want more than sex from her?” Kay asked, blunt as always.

Cassian paused, the laugh replaced by a frown. Well, he had never really thought about it, about what he wanted when this voyage was over. He got on well with Jyn, but he didn’t know how that would translate to life on the mainland.

But one thing he knew for sure was that he at least wanted to be her friend. “Yeah, I do,” he softly admitted to Kay, before escaping his friend’s honesty for his captain’s requirements.

*

That evening, Jyn found him leaning over the rails, watching the fading sunset play on the clouds the storm left behind.

He gave her a welcoming smile and readily took the offered thermos. He felt any comments about her being up and about and looking okay would not be well received, so instead he poured himself a cup. He looked down at the dark liquid and then back up at her. The coffee smelled lovely, but, well, it was evening.

“It’s decaf,” she said, in response to his unasked question. “I’m not trying to keep you up all night.”

Cassian’s smile got wider - she had, in fact, tried to keep him up all night before.

She returned it, leaning against the railing next to him. “Not this evening,” she said as a warning.

“No, I hadn’t thought so. You’re still welcome to stay with me. If you want.”

She was looking out over the ocean while trying to casually observe him. “I’d like that, thanks,” she said.

“So, um, what are your plans for after the expedition?” asked Cassian, trying to sound casual.

He apparently wasn’t successful. “Did Kay put you up to this?”

“What - no?”

“No? You don’t know if Kay put you to prying into my plans or not?”

Well, Kay had put the idea in his head, but he thought Kay might be getting at something else. “Is he trying to recruit you permanently?”

“Yeah. I don’t get it, I thought he hated me.”

“He doesn’t, he’s just blunt and honest in a way that most people aren’t.”

“No social niceties.”

“No,” Cassian said, spinning the thermos top full of coffee in his hands. He had noticed Jyn wasn’t much for social niceties, either, though she adhered to them more than Kay. “Are you thinking about it?” 

“Is that really what you want to ask me?”

Cassian was silent a moment. What the hell was wrong with him? Why was he bringing this up? All she did was bring him coffee! He was surprised he hadn’t scared her off.

“Even if you don’t keep working for Kay, would you be interested in still seeing me?” he managed to say, not looking at her.

“I think I’ll still find you attractive when you have to wear less clothing on warmer land.” He could hear the warmth and amusement in her voice. Jyn was quite fond of his fluffy blue parka, so he wasn’t so sure. But then she was also fond of him naked, so maybe.

He smiled at her as she put her arm through his, leaning up against him. He leaned into her in turn. This was definitely all Kay’s fault, though for once maybe that wasn’t a bad thing.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry, I don't know what this is, I hope you enjoyed it anyway.
> 
> I'm gretamaya on tumblr, come say hi!


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